05/23/2017

Why All Conferences Should Go Vegan

In the interview that I did last week with Quayshawn Spencer, Quayshawn pointed out that vegan restaurants are a safe venue for lactose intolerant diners, noting that often none of the fare offered at receptions of philosophy conferences is edible to him and other lactose intolerant conference-goers.

As a vegan myself, I was delighted that Quayshawn drew attention to one of the virtues of veganism. A recent article at the Chronicle's Vitae blog offers other arguments for why conferences should go the vegan route and for veganism more generally. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Are we, as academics, obligated to serve vegan meals at our conferences and meetings? I would argue that we are. Speciesism and colonialism are both part of the same “othering” that many academics claim to be trying to deconstruct. Providing vegan — a meal free of all animal products — as the de facto meal choice at scholarly meetings makes perfect sense. Animal products are not necessary to maintain health as evidenced by a slew of athletes — boxers, runners, and even weightlifters — adopting a vegan regimen for higher performance. And in today's food wars, providing vegan food is another way to demonstrate social justice in action.

But wait a minute, some will say. Animals are not like us. Plus they taste good. And anyway, we’ve always served meat to conference participants at our lavish keynote dinners at the finest historic hotel in the city center. Now we begin to see the scope of the resistance.

Which is odd since much of the research underlying animal advocacy is trickling out of academe itself — from divergent fields of study such as philosophy, animal-law studies, and environmental science. There is intense debate about cruelty in animal agriculture. More than 100 billion (yes, billion) nonhuman animals — land and aquatic — are killed globally by humans each year, and the arguments about their use has grown increasingly becoming public. If you work at a public university (and even if you don't) this issue should be on your radar.